Paul Cutler (Gabriel Macht) is one of the best SWAT members in Los Angeles and for that he has brought unintentional attention that sends him to Detroit as a consultant to certify their S.W.A.T. squad. However, as he arrives in Detroit he isn’t entirely welcomed by the veterans of the squad. When his first situation arrives Cutler loses his first hostage and gaining a new enemy, Walter Hatch (Robert Patrick). Walter quickly begins the mind games that make Cutler increasingly paranoid fearing that something might happen to his team and his new love interest. Walter Hatch is on the path to become Cutler’s worst nightmare.
I don’t think I’ve been able to find direct to DVD sequels that just simply pass as decent or watchable. I was really hoping that Firefight was something along the lines of the original, of course, the original film wasn’t perfect, but was enjoyable up to some degree. Firefight was a complete misfire in comparison. The film was clichéd and incredibly predictable, not to mention that throughout the film there was only one situation that remotely seemed like a true SWAT situation. I was surprised that I actually sat through the entire thing as it was just not what I was expecting. The entire film just appeared to have been poorly put together.
As I started the film I quickly knew where it was going to go, but I sucked it up and went ahead with the film. It wasn’t entirely surprising that the story had more holes than those made by the bullets shot throughout the film. There was never a true attachment to the main character and as much as he was the one preaching a system the story slowly made into what he preached against. You got a psychopath running around with government officials and he manages to get away? There’s only so much you can sit and watch without wondering what was going through the writer’s mind. Dialogue felt off too and corny a good part of that time, characters were boring and the excitements were almost non-existent. To summarize the film, there were very few thrills and film was incredibly predictable with the outcome seen a mile away.
S.W.A.T.: Firefight arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 1.78:1.Was it me or did someone in quality control completely missed revising the end product? The film wasn’t all that bad, but there are questionable moments that I haven’t really seen on a product released by Sony. The film is very inconsistent, colors may look vibrant and very vivid in one shot and then the next they appear flat and unattractive. Black levels are impressive at times and flat during night time shots. Same can be said about detailing of the film sometimes impressive other time just right down flat. Overall, Firefight looked great at times, but part of the film was marked by inconsistencies with the image.
S.W.A.T.: Firefight arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. A movie like this can only bring you hope that your system will be put to work no? Not quite, the track was decent, but nowhere near the quality expected. Dialogue is clean and crisp throughout. The rest is just flat. Being a movie with lots of bullets being fired you would expect great support from the bass, but it lacks and the firefights come off as just flat. The explosion in the last chapter is easily the biggest excitement in this track. The track does the bare minimum and handles everything decently.
Sharp Shooting: On The Set – Director Benny Boom talks about Firefight and explains the things he tried to avoid while getting the movie done. Also, viewers can see some of the training for the actors and can hear about some of the ideas for the characters in the movie. Overall, you can skip this since there is nothing substantial.
Previews – Sony’s new way of displays all the trailers at once without letting you select the ones you want.
S.W.A.T.: Firefight could have been avoided entirely. I just can’t see why it was a good idea to make when the first was more than plenty. The plot is bad, characters are one dimensional and simply boring, and there are very few thrills. I’ll cut it there before I convince you to watch just to see how bad it is. The Blu-ray is surprisingly subpar to Sony’s usual high standards. With that being said, the supplements found within are also just not worth the time. If you must watch I suggest you rent.
